We cover online holiday shopping non-stop from now until Dec 26th (post-holiday sales). If you don't see us on your favorite morning show, we're not doing our job!;) Here's some of the basics we'll be covering along with many of the more sophisticated tips you'll find in some of our television work & other blog posts on this site. Here's a quick look at this year's trends, tips for scoring the best deals & staying cyber-safe in the process ... - R

2007 HOLIDAY ONLINE SHOPPING
REGINA LEWIS, AOL CONSUMER ADVISOR


While overall holiday shopping sales gains are expected to be modest (4% growth according to NRF), online shopping is projected to see double-digit growth, with Web savvy shoppers netting big bargains online and early birds taking advantage of a wealth of free shipping offers. If you haven't started your holiday shopping yet, you might want to get a move on ... or at least move in the direction of your computer.

Here's a look at this year's trends, tips for scoring the best deals online and staying cyber-safe in the process.

RETAILERS HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR ONLINE HOLIDAY SHOPPING?

- National Retail Federation projects 474.5 billion in offline sales, a 4% increase over last year.

- Meanwhile, online retail sales are expected to reach $33 billion this year, representing a 21% increase over last year (source: Forrester Research).

- Consumers, on average, plan to do 30% of their shopping online.

WHAT'S MOTIVATING ONLINE SHOPPERS TO GET A JUMP ON THEIR HOLIDAY SHOPPING?

Free Shipping Offers - Online shoppers say it's the single biggest motivator – and 80% of e-tailers will offer some sort of free shipping promotion this holiday season. Big names like: Target.com, ToysRus, LLBean, CircuitCity.com, have already rolled out some of their free shipping promotions. Expect some to up the ante as we move closer to Black Friday and Cyber-Monday.

Meet the minimum.
Some shipping offers do come with conditions, i.e., spend $50.00 to qualify. So, if you have two $25.00 items to purchase, you may be better off finding a site where you can purchase both vs. spreading those purchases out over 2 sites and forgoing the shipping cost advantage.

Going, going, gone.
Free shipping deals won't be around for long. They're almost always based on "standard shipping" timelines, so that affects how late e-tailers can offer them. If you want to save the most on shipping, you really don't want to push your luck beyond Friday, Dec. 14.

BESIDES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE SHIPPING OFFERS ... ANY OTHER MONEY SAVING TIPS YOU CAN SHARE WITH US?

Take advantage of comparison shopping engines – a.k.a., "shopping bots."
Everyone's looking for a deal. More and more people use comparison shopping tools like PriceGrabber.com which searches more than 20 million products from 10,000 retailers and is built into AOL Shopping. Doing that alone can save you, on average, 25-35 percent.

Mobile comparison shopping is a new trend.
Because people tend to do their shopping both online and offline, the new trend this year is using price comparison services right from your cell phone via the wireless Web. This way when you're in a store, you don't have to think, "I wonder if I could do better/find this for less on the Internet." http://wap.aol.com/shopping/

Know the "coupon" code.
Sometimes used by e-tailers as promotions to get you to shop. Other times you have to seek them out on sites like CouponCabin.com or do a search on the e-tailer name + coupon code.

WHAT ARE E-TAILERS COUNTING ON AS BIG SELLERS?

Gift Cards very big again this year: 62 percent of consumers are planning to buy gift cards this season (source: Consumer Reports Survey). If you do get one, don't wait to use it ... Most do have expiration dates. (27% of those who received gift cards for the holidays last year have yet to use them).

Electronics: The usual suspects (iPods, iPhones, notebook computers, flat screen TVs).

Toys: Anything Hannah Montana is a hit. And junior versions of adult toys – computers and MP3 players designed with kids in mind.

Apparel, DVDs, books, etc. also popular and here are more ideas from AOL Shopping's Holiday Toy Sneak Peek

TOYS RECALLS HAVE BEEN A HOT TOPIC AS OF LATE ... YOU SAY SHOPPING FOR TOYS ONLINE MAY BE YOUR BEST/SAFEST MOVE ... WHY?

- If you shop sites like eToys or ToysRUs.com, they will automatically send you email notifications about recalls the same day they're issued.

- Here's how it works: when you shop online, you provide your email address, they have a record of what you've purchased ... So, if there is a future recall, they put 2 and 2 together and can easily notify you.

- It's a nice – even critical – value-add and something to keep in mind as you do your holiday shopping this year.

http://www.reginalewis.com/2007/11/08/be-alerted-of-toy-recalls/

A LOT OF THE FOLKS WHO SHOP ON THE WEB OVER THE HOLIDAYS AREN'T REGULAR ONLINE SHOPPERS ... MAYBE THEIR FIRST-TIMERS AND THEY WORRY ABOUT PUTTING THEIR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION OUT THERE. ARE THERE SCAMS PEOPLE SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR?

A bargain isn't a bargain if you can't purchase it safely online.
- Before entering personal information, be sure the padlock at the top or bottom of your browser is closed and locked. You can also tell if a site is secure, because you will see the URL change from www.http// to www.https// as in secure.

- Make sure the site lists physical contact information – an address and phone number.

- You can also check a company's reputation with the Better Business Bureau or the National Fraud Information Center by seeing if any negative reports have been submitted for a particular company (www.bbb.com).

- Designate one credit card for online shopping. This will allow for easy review of purchases.

Phishing Scams - phony confirmation e-mails most popular scam.
Perhaps the most popular online shopping scam doesn't happen during the purchase ... it appears to come on the backend of things by way of a fake purchase confirmation or order receipt, asking people to login to their Amazon, Paypal, eBay, etc. account to confirm an order that they never placed. People panic and click on the link, only to give their info to a phisher.

You should never give your credit card information or online password to unauthorized persons contacting you via e-mail, Instant Message, or telephone. These requests are almost always fraudulent, so don't take the bait.

Holiday Related: Online Stores Improving Gift Wrapping